Service Definition
Probrand The IT Index
Overview
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The IT Index (“ITI”) is an online private and secure procurement portal for ICT
products (hardware, enterprise software, peripherals and consumables) offered by
Probrand Limited (“Supplier”)
ITI offers online catalogues showing public sector framework and general market
pricing to account-holding public sector customers
The online catalogue presents currently over 150,000 current ICT products from
over 3,500 OEM vendors which are available to be sourced by Supplier for
Customers from 35+ UK distribution warehouses/organisations (“Distribution”)
ITI declares the current volume of stock of product provided to us by Distribution,
as well as End of Life information, via automated daily electronic data feeds
ICT product sales to public sector Customers can be completed directly and
compliantly under the Government Procurement Services’ CITHS framework
Customers are offered products with open book Supplier margins
ITI can be used via a secure login through a web browser. Alternatively, the ITI
catalogues can be connected to the Customer’s ERP to allow direct ERP ordering
and so automated order confirmation, delivery acknowledgement, invoicing and
payment methods. Cloud services will be required to make such connections.
ITI has been accredited as demonstrating “excellence in procurement policies and
procedures” by The Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply. The Supplier
won in 2011 a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation in relation to its eprocurement tools. ITI has been accredited by the Institute for Chartered
Accountants in England & Wales as a “Best Practice, Best Value” e-procurement
solution
Information assurance, backup/restore and DR
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Supplier operates from 2 locations; namely, the HQ in Birmingham and a second
office in Manchester
The IT data storage systems in Birmingham are co-located in Manchester for
Disaster Recovery purposes.
Should a disaster occur in Birmingham or Manchester, the DR system in the other
location will provide Customers with use of a fully restored system in less than 1
hour.
Boarding
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For web browser Customers, boarding is accordance with the following procedure:
o The Customer’s identity is verified and a standard credit account opening
procedure initiated
The identities of the Customer’s relevant staff by role are provided and
secure individual logins are established and notified reflecting these roles
by email
o There are two standard roles: a Requisitioner and an Approver. An
Approver can requisition and order product online up to the Customer’s
credit limit. Requisitioners can prepare orders on the system which (when
finalised) are automatically notified to the relevant Approver who must
then logon to the system to either Approve or Decline the requisition (up to
the Customer’s credit limit) and provide, or trigger the production of, a
Purchase Order
For ERP connected customers, boarding is via an individual integration exercise
offered as Cloud services which will need to be scoped on a case-by-case basis as
no one ERP (and its data structure) is the same as another.
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Pricing
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Access to The IT Index for Gov is free (or a nominal £1) to public sector Customers
who are forecast to spend at least £20,000 per annum on relevant products. There
is no consequence to the Customer for the failure in fact to purchase products of
this at least this value, other than the Supplier reserves the right by written notice
to terminate access after 6 months’ initial assessment period
Service levels & management
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The Customer’s relationship with Supplier is managed by a named sales executive.
Any issues of underperformance or otherwise can be escalated under a written
procedure: first of all, to the Sales Manager, then to the General Manager and,
finally, to a Director of the company
The IT Index guarantees a 97.5% working hours service availability and currently
(1/1/10-30/11/11) has operated to 99.14%
Service constraints
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All service maintenance windows are managed to be outside standard UK office
hours (8.30am to 5.30 pm Monday to Friday excluding statutory public holidays).
The service is generally available 24/7, except for during such maintenance
windows
Other than in defining and amending user profiles, there is no customisation
required or permitted. Where the service is consumed in its ERP connected
format, customised and styled web pages (with Customer’s logos, specific ordering
procedures etc) can be provided generally free of charge
As the service is provided for free, there are no compensation rights for the
unavailability of the service. Any transactions which are undertaken via the portal
will carry the full level of Ssupplier responsibilities within standard public sector
terms of purchase (e.g. CITHS)
Training
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There are user guides and materials available for all users (attached separately)
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Individual user telephone or web-ex, one-2-one training (for a reasonable number
of staff on reasonable notice) can also be provided at no charge
Ordering & invoice processing
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Access to ITI can be ordered simply by email (to rhr@theitindex.co.uk) or
telephone (on 0870 700 0210). As access is free, there is no formal wider ordering
or invoicing procedure.
Termination terms
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Access to the system may be terminated by the Customer and the Supplier at will
with no liability.
Service migration
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Customer’s data within the system can be exported via.csv format (such as
Microsoft Excel) at any point while they are registered with the portal.
The service functionality cannot be migrated.
Consumer responsibilities
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The sole Customer responsibility is to keep their logins secure and operate within
their own internal and agreed product ordering procedures
Customers are not authorised to disclose information, data or any Business
Intelligence they learn through access to ITI to anybody who is not employed or
formally engaged by their organisation otherwise as required by law or in order to
satisfy duties under the Freedom of Information Act.
Technical requirements
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Web browser access is the only technical requirement.
Trial
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A free trial can be offered once a prospective Customer has completed the
Supplier’s Customer due diligence and account opening procedures.